Lesson Plan for 2014-01-27: Omoplata On Demand

It’s a real pleasure to have students massing together and asking for one specific submission. Like the Americana or the Ezekiel, the omoplata can easily take two classes to teach what I feel are the fundamentals of the attack.

Of the big three (armbar, triangle, omoplata), the omoplata probably gives students the most trouble when they try it in open mat. Even as a fresh blue belt, I didn’t really appreciate how versatile the omoplata is, and it was underused in my game. I’m going to make sure you know all the things I was missing that made the difference between a submission I would occasionally try and even more occasionally finish, and a submission that I can rely on as a fundamental go-to move.

At a basic level, the omoplata is nothing more than a kimura applied with your legs. Like the kimura, there are also a large number of ways to enter this attack. For this first class, we are going to cover the classic omoplata from a failed armbar, which will give tons of opportunity to discuss what makes for a good omoplata.

After learning the fundamentals of the omoplata, we will move on to an omoplata from an open guard. This omoplata has more energy involved, so there’s more that can go wrong.

No, this isn’t a new gang sign. Unless your gang name is “Omoplatas Gone Bad”

As long as you know it’s coming, you should be able to easily avoid this guys fate. I still feel bad about this. It underscores that done properly, your opponent doesn’t have much time to react, and any delayed reaction combined with a little bad luck can make for some sad digits and a whole room full of people pointing and cringing. (only one guy was hurt in the making of this photo)

Anyway, getting used to using the omoplata from an open guard will help you see this submission a lot more often than you do, instead of thinking of it as just something you try when your armbar attempt goes up in smoke.